Hello to all of you! Just sending you a message to invite you to please keep Sebastien in your prayers this coming Thursday as he undergoes his unique capsule test and we are all praying that this test will go smoothly and that Sebastien will stool this capsule out and we do not want this capsule to get stuck in him as it would mean to cut him open to retrieve it…… ahhhhhhhhhhh not good…. well soooooo please pray for this capsule to end up in his Ostomy pouch and that the camera in the... Read Full Story

Apparently, our website “Hope for Sébastien” is down. I want to clarify here that the matter is out of our control and is a problem with the website hosting service. I’d recommend bookmarking to this blog directly so that when our trusty friend (Hooster) has a cold, you can bypass it entirely. Sébastien returned to Toronto on a commercial flight Thursday, July 24th. His infection had been cleared here in Winnipeg and he left in relatively good health. Jasmina and David were worried that he... Read Full Story

Last Friday I visited Sébastien in the PICU of the Winnipeg Children’s Hospital. Surprise, surprise… I bet you weren’t expecting me to write this on the blog after just telling you Sébastien arrived in Winnipeg… on holidays for five whole weeks. Well, we weren’t expecting to come back from a visit to Saskatoon (my lovely little home-city) to hear that Sébastien had had severe bleeding and a bad infection to boot. Catching up on the details with Jasmina over the phone, I was thinking I could... Read Full Story

I forgot my camera. In the back of my mind, before I left, I thought about bringing it, but that thought fell out, somewhere between remembering my purse, and fixing my hair. So, my Prince and I went out for an anniversary date. I was well enough for that… even though I’d taken a completely justifiable day off from work to catch up on a bad night of sleep and chase away a menacing cold that attacked me by surprise. And on our way home, or just before, I put on my best fawn eyes, and asked my... Read Full Story

I was quite confident that Jasmina and Sébastien were arriving in Winnipeg this Saturday. Perhaps I should have consulted a crystal ball to see that for a fourth time, the date would be changed. Or maybe I should have known that Murphy’s law is particularly strong when it comes to writing predictions on a blog. So I’m not going to tell you when Jasmina and Sébastien are thinking of rescheduling the flight. You’ll have to guess on your own. And I’ll tell you if you’re right once they come... Read Full Story

I know. I told you in secret that Jasmina and Sébastien would be coming around the 19th. Then swollen lymph nodes happened. Then I said they’d be coming Friday, or Sunday. But nurses and medical staff have long weekends too. So now I’m telling you they’re coming to Winnipeg Saturday July 5th. And the only reason I’m a little more confident this time, is because the plane tickets are bought. As the expression goes: “Don’t shoot the piano player; he’s doing the best he can... Read Full Story

Jasmina called later last night to say: “We’re cured!” like a cheer for Sébastien, who was playing with barnyard animals not far from her. The tests came back with good results: no cancer and only some signs of a mild infection that was untraceable. It was perhaps the biggest scare so far, but, if SickKids gives them the “all clear” David, Jasmina and Sébastien are on their way to Winnipeg, as soon as… wait for it… this Friday! We’re excited... Read Full Story

Coming home from work last night, there is a message on our answering machine… “Hi J & C, it’s Jasmina, just calling to let you know the preliminary results after today’s looonnng test. So far it looks very good. There’s no kind of concern about cancer stuff, but we’ll know for sure tomorrow with the final results, another ultra-sound and more testing. So thanks for the prayers…” Read Full Story

Today, from 10 until 3, Sébastien will be undergoing tests. Forty-five minutes preparation including anesthesia for the PET scan, the CT scan and whatever else comes after… then the wait for a diagnostic. Swollen lymph nodes could mean two things: an infection like EBV (which people who are not immuno-suppressed can easily fight off) or cancer. The swollen lymph nodes were discovered during an ultra-sound just last week. Sébastien seemed to have been complaining about a sore tummy, and... Read Full Story

I overheard my husband talking to David about Jasmina and Sébastien’s visit to Winnipeg: “It’ll be for sure, when Jasmina and Sébastien are on the plane!” I figured it was kind of pessimistic. But, it turned out he was right… David called yesterday, and said that amoung other things, the tests revealed that Sébastien’s lymph nodes were swollen. Not sure of what it might mean and how serious it might be, Sébastien has been scheduled for further tests… a CAT scan, and an MRI. To stay still... Read Full Story